Windlass clamp for sucker-rods and tube-hoists



W. W. C. SPENCER.

WINDLASS CLAMP FOR SUCKER RODS AND TUBE HOISTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3. 1920.

1,397,937, Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS$HEET 1.

um/"toe W. W. C. SPENCER.

WlNDLASS CLAMP FOR SUCKER RODS AND TUBE HOISTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1920- 1,397,937, Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

22 I 1 WWGS encer;

aw Wazoo UNITED STATES WARREN W. C. SPENCER, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

WINDLASS CLAMP FOR- SUCKER-RODS AND TUBE-HOISTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

Application filed March 3, 1920. Serial No. 362,932.

T 0 all whom it may conccwz:

Be it known that I, WARREN W. O. SPEN- cnn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWindlass Clamps for Sucker-Rods and Tube-Hoists, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus used in hoisting the sucker rods and tubing or casing of drilled wells, such as oil or gas wells, when removing a string of the sucker rods or of the casing from a well.

In many oil fields, the oil must be pumped from the well and in such cases the sucker rods used in pumping must be removed frequently from the well for cleaning and for renewing the cups or leathers on the lower end of the strings of such sucker rods. It also is frequently necessary to remove the tubing from the wells.

Heretofore'this has been done by the aid of a team of horses, the team being hitched to one end of a line or cable which passes over a pulley and whose other end is attached to the sucker rod or tubing.

Removing or hoisting the sucker rods and tubing in this way is very slow and laborious as well as expensive, even when there is no trouble in obtaining horses for the work, a difficulty frequently found in remotely located oil fields.

The result is that in a field of even so few as eight-or ten wells, the constant use of a team is required for work which should be done in considerably less time, while, of course, there is a considerable loss in the production of oil, owing to the time consumed in removing and replacing a string of sucker rods. 7

One object of my invention is the provision of novel means whereby hoisting the sucker rods or tubing is readily accomplished by man-power in a much shorter time and at much less expense than is possible with the horses, and whereby long delays in the operation of pumping the wells are avoided and made unnecessary.

Another'object of my invention is the provision of a hoisting mechanism of simple construction in which great strength and lifting power is combined with lightness in weight and resultant ease in handling and transporting the apparatus from one well to another.

Another object of the present invention is to provide for conveniently and satisfactorily mounting a Windlass or other implement upon a pole without the use of fasten- 1ng devices such as are commonly driven into a pole.

The present embodiment of the invention includes a gin. pole, at block and fall, and opposite clamp members, one of which members carries the windlass or other implement, and a chain or chains associated with the clamping members, the parts being associated in such a manner as to enable the convenient application of the clamp members to opposite sides of poles of arying diameters, and to enable the convenient assemblage of the chain or chains with the clamp members so as to draw the latter into snug engagement with such poles and thereby support the windlass in position. I

With these and other objects in View, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it of course being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size and, minor details may be made, within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the inventlon.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sucker rod hoist including a block and tackle and. a Windlass, the windlass being secured to a pole by the clamping means of the present lnventlon.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view 011 the line 33 of Fig. 2, the hoistin drum being omitted.

Fig. at is a rear elevation of the back plate constituting the fixed member of the clamp.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 5-5 of F ig. 4-.

Fig. 6 is a detail view members, parts being trate details thereof.

The clamp of the of one of the clamp broken away to illuspresent invention includes aback plate 1 in the form of a substantially rectangular casting of suitable dimensions. One upright edge of the plate is provided with an upright rearwardly extending flange 2 extending the entire height to enter the chain links and thereby hold the of the plate. Upon the rear face of this plate there are horizontal flanges designated 3, 4c. 5, 6, 7, and 8. The flanges l and 7 are at the middle of the plate. There is a ver tical plane surface or panel 9 lying between the flanges 8, l, and 5, and the flanges 6, 7, and 8. Each flange 3, l, and 5 has its outer end as wide as the upstanding flange 2, and its rear face is inclined inwardly toward the panel 9, and said edge of the flange is toothed or serrated as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The flanges 6, '7, and 8 are similar to the flanges 3, l, and 5, but have their toothed edges inclined reversely with respect to the flanges 3, 4, and 5. The several flanges produce a tapered or substantially l-shaped seat for a purpose as will hereinafter appear. Suitable upright openings 10, 11, 12, and 13 areprovided through the plate at opposite sides of the panel 9 and between the hori zontal flanges.

Upon the front of the plate 1 is a Windlass 14 carried between brackets 15 and 16 suitably secured to the plate 1 as by bolts or other fastenings 17 and 18. A suitable crank having a handle 19 is provided for rotating the Windlass. V

In rear of the plate 1 there are two duplicate clamping members designed 19 and 20 respectively. Each clamping member has its end portions set at an angle to the middle portion thereof so as to form a tapered or substantially -shaped seat corresponding to the seat formed by the flanges or iaws on the plate 1. The end portions of the clamp member constitute jaws which have teeth or serrations 21. @ne end of the clamp member hasan offset terminal 22 through which is provideda tapering opening 523 to receive a bolt 24 which extends through a washer 25 which is convex in cross section and fits within concave seat 26 formed across the back of the offset end of the clamping member. A nut 27 is provided upon the rear threaded end of the bolt 2 A chain 28 is suitably securedt the forward end of the bolt and is designed to be passed through the set of openings 10 and 12 or the set of openings 11 and 13 in the plate 1, the free end of the chain being suitably associated with the other end of the clamp. The pre ferred means for connecting the free end portion of the chain to the clamping member includes a seat or recess 29 provided in the back of the clamping member and having a configuration to receive the links of the chain, the back of the recess being provided with sprocket projections 30 designed chain from endwise separation from the clamping member when tension is put upon the chain by manipulation of the nut 27.

In using the device, the back plate is applied to an upright post, gin pole or the like 30, shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

and quickly hoist the sucker rods,

means? The two clamping members 19 are then applied to the opposite side of the post, and the chains of the clamping members are passed around the post and through the proper openings in the back plate 1, the free ends of the chains being engaged with the seats in the clamping members, and then the nuts 27 are manipulated to draw the movable clamp members snugly against the post and thus securely grip the clamp upon the pole. The fast pulley 31 is secured on an upper portion of the pole, and the cable 32 is unwound from the drum and passed around the loose pulley 33 of the so-formed tackle,in the manner shown or in any other suitable manner.

The operation of the apparatus, when thus mounted. in place, will be readily un derstood.

After the parts are assembled as shown, and the loose pulley is attached to the upper end oft-he string of sucker rods, or to the tubing, as the case may be, the crank 19 on the end of the worm is turned manually so as to rotate the drum 14: and gradually wind the cable 32 on the drum. This causes the loose pulley 33 of the block and fall to rise Or the tubing out of the well.

The Windlass forming part of the invention obviates the use of such fastenings as are driven into a pole, and at the same time enables the clamp to be rigidly fitted in place and may be adjusted to any vertical position upon the pole and upon poles of different diameters. The several parts of the apparatus are all arranged so that they can be taken out for inspection and repair, and any broken parts can be readily replaced.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The. necessity of using horses for power is avoided. The time required in hoisting a string of sucker rods or of tubing is materially reduced, and delays in the pumping operations are lessened. 7 What I claim is:

1. A clamp of the character described, in cluding independent opposite clamp members and a chain having its intermediate portion engaged with one of the clamp members and its end portions associated with the respective ends of the other clamp member, and means associated with one end of the chain to apply tension thereto.

'2. A clamp of the character described in cluding independent clamp members, one of said members having spaced openings there through, a chain extending through said openings and having its ends associated with the other clamp member, and means associated with one end of the chain for applying tension thereto.

3. A clamp of the character described including independent clamp members, one of said members having spaced openings therethrough, a chain extending through said openings and having its ends associated with the other clamp member, one end of the said other clamping member having an opening therethrough, a bolt connected to one end of the chain and passing through said opening, and a nut on the outer end of the bolt for applying tension to the chain.

4. A clamp of the character described comprising opposite clamping members, a chain having an intermediate portion associated with one of the clamp members and one end detachably connected to the other clamp member, a bolt connected to the other end of the chain and carrying a nut and a segmental washer, said other clamp member having a tapered opening therethrough receiving the bolt, and also provided with a concaved seat at the smaller end of the opening and receiving the segmental washer.

5. A clamp of the character described including spaced clamp members, a chain having an intermediate portion associated with one of the clamp members, there being a detachable sprocket engagement between the chain and one end portion of the other clamp member, and means connecting the other end of the chain to the other end of said other clamp member and for applying tension to the chain.

6. A clamp of the character described including spaced clamp members, a chain having an intermediate portion associated with one of the clamp members, means for connecting one end of the chain to one end of the other clamp member and for applying tension thereto, the other end of said other clamp member having a socket provided with sprocket projections disposed to enter and engage links of the chain to connect the chain and clamp member.

7. A clamp of the character described comprising opposite clamp members, the opposed faces of said clamp members having substantially V-shaped seats, one of the members having openings at opposite ends of its seat, a chain extending through the openings and having its ends associated with the other clamp member, and means associated with one end of the chain for applying tension thereto.

8. A clamp of the character described comprising opposed clamp members, one of the clamp members having sets of transverse flanges, the outer edges of the members of each set of flanges being converged to form a seat, said clamp member having openings therethrough, a chain extending through said openings and having its ends associated with the other clamp member, and means associated with one end of the chain for applying tension thereto.

9. The combination of a pair of clamp members, a windlass carried by one of the clamp members, a chain having an intermediate portion associated with said clamp member and its end portions associated with the other clamp member, and means associated with one end of the chain for applying tension thereto.

10. A clamp of the character described comprising a clamp member in the form of a plate provided with sets of top, intermediate and bottom flanges, the outer edges of the flanges of each set being converged inwardly, there being openings through the clamp member between and at the outer ends of the respective flanges, a pair of chains extending through corresponding openings in the clamp members, a pair of other clamp members, each of said other clamp members being as sociated with one of the chains and provided at one end with a socket having ratchet projections entering and engaging links of the chain, and means connecting the other end of the chain with the said other clamp member and for applying tension thereto.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

WARREN W, O. SPENCER. 

